Students at the University of California Riverside will pay at least $1,200 more for a graduate degree in business over the next year as a result of fee increases approved by the UC Board of Regents last month. Students wanting to earn their MBA at California State San Bernardino and University of Redlands will also face higher fees in the coming year.

But university administrators interviewed by The Business Press stressed that along with increased costs, area colleges have significantly increased financial aid.

UCR's full-time MBA program is not the only professional school to have its tuition raised because of budget reductions. Students enrolled at UCR's graduate school of Education and Engineering also face increased costs. Those schools are among 44 professional schools across the UC system for which regents approved raising fees.

The regents voted to raise student fees by 32 percent in two steps over the next year for undergraduate and professional degree students. In additional, the regents also approved increases in professional degree fees from $280 to $5,696.

"Over the last 18 months, we've seen student fees increase 43 percent," said David Stewart, dean of the A. Gary Anderson Graduate School at UCR. "Fees are up again this year. What I'm especially concerned about is that we are reducing access to a set of students that come from homes where they are the first generation to attend college."

Stuart Dorsey, president of the University of Redlands, said due to the recession, the private university has been providing more financial aid to both undergraduate and graduate students from lower income families. Currently one in five students at Redlands is Cal-Grant eligible, with the university providing the rest of the cost for students from low and moderate income families.

Story continues below

Special to the Business Press

Students and faculty gather outside Anderson Hall of the School of Business Administration at the UCR campus. The UC system is setting aside about $175 million for financial aid from its $505 million in fee hikes.

That does not include books and housings, which Dorsey said can be covered with additional student loans. The university is able to assist its students after a two year capital campaign raised $107 million.

"I'm not happy seeing what's going on in terms of (state) cuts to education," said Dorsey, a former economist with the Senate Finance Committee from 1980 to 1984. "We've never quite seen what's going on. It's going to effect every segment of the economy."

He attributed the increased interest in the university's MBA and degree completion programs to laid off workers and recent graduates who are willing to carry extra debt to gain the additional skills that will make them more attractive to potential employers in a tight labor market.

Stewart conceded that UCR students could expect "to run up a fairly sizable bill to acquire their MBA." But the university offers substantial financial assistance and teaching assistant positions, he said.

"We can help those students to some degree," he said. "I'm still concerned that we are reducing access with ongoing price increases."

At UCR an MBA for non-California residents costs about $70,000, while in-state residents will pay $50,000 for the two-year program. As of Dec. 31, UC Riverside had a total of 165 full-time students in its MBA program, according to university officials.

The increases in fees are designed to close a budget shortfall brought on by the state's fiscal crisis. The fee hikes will generate about $505 million for the UC system, of which $175 million will be set aside for financial aid.

To assist students, the UC System recently launched Project You Can, a 10-campus effort to raise $1 billion in student support over the next four years.

Gifts from alumni, parents, foundations and other supporters will help UC provide financial support to its undergraduate, graduate and professional school students.

The recently approved revenue increases will cover only a portion of the UC's budget shortfall, which was created by state budget cuts of $814 million in 2008-09 and $637 million in 2009-10, according to the UC Office of the President. Educators are concerned about additional cuts to education funding as the state faces a $21 billion shortfall for the 2010-2011 fiscal year that begins on July 1.

"Even with the fee increases, it's still a real bargain for students," Stewart said. "At UC Riverside we offer a good MBA program, and despite the economy, a UC degree still has brand equity."

The region's only UC campus offers a full and part-time MBA programs and an executive MBA program. The Anderson School's full-time MBA program is designed for students who wish to earn the MBA during two years of full-time study and for students with little or modest work experience who wish to advance in their careers through preparation in a functional specialty.

The MBA program may also be pursued on a part-time basis. The part-time program provides the opportunity for functional specialization and allows students to continue to work while earning the MBA in three to five years.

The executive MBA program is designed for more experienced students who are making the transition from functional specialists in business or the professions to general management. Students in the program earn the MBA degree in 22 months by attending classes every other weekend and through participation in several five- to six-day intensive residential class sessions.

Stewart said the MBA programs, which are half way through their third year of existence, have seen a doubling in its student population.

"We've been marketing our program to potential students throughout the region," he said. "We have been one of the best kept secrets, but we expect to enroll more students this year in our MBA programs."

Nancy Svenson, associate vice president for enrollment management at Redlands, said the university's School of Business has about 1,435 graduate and undergraduate students. She said a 4 percent increase in student fees for the MBA program will go into effect on July 1.

Currently, the cost of a two-year MBA at Redlands was $66,912, not including $1,900 for books and $450 in student and matriculation fees.

In an effort to have students complete their MBA's, Redlands has implemented a "stay enrolled" program that will pay for a student's last course or $2,788, she said.

"It's a nice deal for students," she said. "Education is always a good investment."

California State University San Bernardino also offers a regular MBA program, which takes about two years to complete and costs $10,502 a year. In November, California State University regents approved a 2.6 percent, or $111, increase in fees for graduate academic students.

All students will see an additional 15 percent increase, or $1,334, beginning summer 2010. The committee also approved increases in professional school fees, ranging from $280 to $5,696.

Inland MBA Economy

"Price increases is not the most significant factor for most MBA students," Stewart said. "The real issue is one of jobs. In the past, a student with an MBA had a hard time finding a job in the Inland Empire and had to move to Los Angeles, Orange or San Diego counties."

However, the argument that the Inland Empire doesn't have enough potential employees with advanced degrees "has changed dramatically," he said. For example, UC Riverside is graduating 4,000 students per year, including 600 a year with business degrees and 80 MBAs, he said.

"We are now producing an educated workforce and many of our graduates would like to live here," Stewart said. "So that old argument really doesn't hold up. But we do need to get more of the jobs that employ people with advanced degrees to move inland. We are still a net exporter of people with advanced business degrees."

He said the wealth has already moved inland from the costal communities to areas like Chino Hills, Temecula and Rancho Cucamonga, but the region needs a strategic vision to become a center of innovation and not just warehousing and industrial industries.

Dorsey agreed, saying: "The Inland Empire is going through a slump, but the region has a tremendous long-term future. The challenge is to start attracting businesses to the area who employ people with advanced degrees."

He added that the region was at the "tipping point" in terms being able to attract those types of companies, including technology and engineering firms.

"We are getting close, but the recession has set us back a couple of years," he said. "It's a long-term process, but its going to continue to happen."